//------------------------------// // 3. Moonlight // Story: PONYSHKA // by Reviewfilly //------------------------------// Maxim sighed in relief and immediately let his weapon go as well. While his face still burned, his hands felt rigid and ice cold inside the gloves. His breaths were short and shallow. In truth he was hardly able to keep his bluff up for even such a short time. It took all of his concentration to stop himself from shaking and he was extremely close to breaking down. He had never been much of a fighter. It was almost certain that if they really had ended up dueling, Sergei would have blown his head clean off before he could have done as much as unbuckle his rifle’s holster. But he simply had to take the risk. He couldn’t allow that poor little thing be butchered. Not after all her kind had done for his sanity. He took a deep breath and exhaled. The cold night’s air helped ease his racing heart. “Thanks.” It was all he could say. Sergei didn’t reply. Instead he motioned towards the wall and the duo shared no other words as they slowly returned to the others. They found Aleksei sitting on the ground, his rifle in his lap. He stroked his chin as he seemed to be in deep thought. Mir sat in front of him, still as pristine as before, with a soft, almost motherly smile on her face. For a moment neither of them said a word, but then the young stalker spoke up. “It’s gotta be the Moon.” “Nope, wrong again,” the pony said with a soft laugh. “I was thinking of a cloud.” “Aw, crap.” Suddenly they fell silent and their eyes snapped towards the other two as they noticed their return. Aleksei made a haphazard attempt at raising his gun and clambering to his feet, but Sergei merely sighed and waved him off. “Don’t bother.” He then turned and motioned towards the pony. “We’re gonna get it back to wherever it came from.” The pony’s ears perked up and her eyes quivered. A great smile spread onto her lips.”Oh, thank you, mister! Thank you so much!” She jumped up and rushed towards Sergei to embrace him, but he stopped her dead in her tracks by taking a step back and vaguely aiming his gun at her. “Stay right where you are. The only reason you’re not fly food already is because this idiot here -” he nodded towards Maxim “- would have been willing to have his brains blown out for your sake.” Aleksei cast a surprised look at the two men, then at Mir. “You two did what?” he asked, his voice tinted with obvious disbelief. As he looked back towards his comrades the yellow moonlight briefly illuminated his eyes. He sighed. “You know what? I don’t even want to hear it. Besides, Sergei, what even is your plan?” He let out a worried chuckle as he waved his hand towards the mare. “Chuck her into a random anomaly and hope for the best?” Sergei didn’t immediately reply. Instead he massaged his temple with a hand and then shrugged a little. He reached into his coat’s breast pocket and fished out a damp cigarette along with a small petroleum lighter. He toasted the cigarette for a few seconds until it dried enough to be lit, then ignited it. He placed it in his mouth, then took a long drag. “Beats me. Maybe our local horse expert here has an idea,” he said while exhaling a cloud of smoke. Maxim, however, just shook his head. “Don’t look at me, I know as much as you do.” “Umm, maybe I can help,” Mir spoke up. She cast an uneasy look at Sergei, worried he might cut her off, but he was completely focused on his cigarette. She turned to the others. “I’ve started feeling a presence a little while ago. I can’t really describe it, but it feels like it is calling out to me.” She vaguely threw her left hoof towards a direction. “I think it might be something that will return me home.” Maxim and Aleksei looked at Sergei. He shrugged and continued to smoke. “Well,” he said between two drags. The faint yellow moonlight reflected off his glasses for a moment. “If we’re not shooting it, I guess we might as well listen to the freak.” He threw the butt away and stomped on it. “Lead the way.” Mir gave him a small nod and turned around. She began moving. With each step the mud refused to stick to her hooves, which, along with her unnatural glow and appearance, made her seem like she was merely superimposed into reality instead of being a living, breathing creature. Sergei began walking after her. “Let’s move,” he called out to behind himself. Aleksei remained in his place and glanced back towards where they’d come from. “What? We aren’t even going back to eat?” he asked, his voice ringing with hurt. “No. Having this thing around with us is already too much of a liability,” came the harsh reply. “Come on Maxim, help me out here,” pleaded Aleksei, but he too only shook his head and turned to follow the mare. “Sorry, but I can’t really think of eating right now either.” Aleksei scoffed. “Oh, that’s just great! I’m so glad I’ve spent so much time cooking for you then!” he yelled after them. Sergei stopped for a second and faced him. “Quit your bitching already and pick up the pace,” he said with clear disdain in his voice. “We’ll have plenty of time to eat your slop after this.” Aleksei raised his eyebrows in outrage and opened his mouth like he was about to give some retort, but after a second he closed it again and just mumbled something under his breath, picked up his rifle, and joined the others.